Qualifying report
NASCAR Cup Talladega
Hamlin beats Almirola to NASCAR Cup pole at Talladega
Denny Hamlin held off a tough challenge from Fords on Saturday to earn his first NASCAR Cup Series pole of the season.
Jim Utter
Edited: Apr 22, 2023, 9:59 PM
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Hamlin, one of the last cars to go out in the final round of qualifying, posted an average lap speed of 180.751 mph - the fastest lap of the day – and held on to win the pole for Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
The pole is the first of the 2023 season for Hamlin, 37th of his career and – remarkably – the first in his career on a superspeedway.
"That's the first one for sure, I was well aware," Hamlin said of winning his first pole on a superspeedway track. "Last year was a great opportunity because all the Toyotas qualified really well on the superspeedways. That was kind of the nature of the (car) bodies that we submitted to NASCAR. So, we knew we'd be fast on these types of race tracks.
"When we re-submitted this year, I think we got more of a balance, and we knew it would slow us up some on these types of tracks. Toyota and those guys continue to make advancements and we get a little faster."
Asked about the advantages, if any, of starting on the pole at a place like Talladega, Hamlin said: "I would say that qualifying on the pole means my car is very capable of being fast leading. I haven't been fast in the Next Gen era while leading superspeedways. So, that gives me the confidence that we should be able to lead the pack and make it harder for them to pass us."
Ford driver Aric Almirola will line up second (180.642 mph) and Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Ty Gibbs, was third (180.594 mph).
Ford drivers Chase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five.
Completing the top-10 lineup are Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Kyle Larson (the lone Chevrolet in the top-10) and Chris Buescher.
# Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph 1 11 
Denny Hamlin Toyota 2 52.979 180.751 2 10 Aric Almirola Ford 2 53.011 0.032 0.032 180.642 3 54 Ty Gibbs Toyota 2 53.025 0.046 0.014 180.594 4 14 Chase Briscoe Ford 2 53.085 0.106 0.060 180.390 5 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 2 53.124 0.145 0.039 180.258 6 20 Christopher Bell Toyota 2 53.245 0.266 0.121 179.848 7 19 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 2 53.281 0.302 0.036 179.726 8 22 Joey Logano Ford 2 53.299 0.320 0.018 179.666 9 5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 2 53.302 0.323 0.003 179.656 10 17 Chris Buescher Ford 2 53.303 0.324 0.001 179.652
Round 1
Fords and Toyotas dominated the first round of qualifying with Ford driver Briscoe with the fastest average speed (179.730 mph).
Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Gibbs (179.689 mph) and Hamlin (179.635 mph) ended up second and third respectively.
Almirola was fourth and Truex fifth.
Also advancing to the final round were Blaney, Logano, Bell, Buescher and Larson, driving the only Chevrolet in the top-10.
Among those who failed to advance to the final round were Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick, Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and three Hendrick Motorsports cars – William Byron, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott.
Austin Cindric qualified 15th but will have to start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to his No. 2 Penske Ford.
11 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 2 53.455 0.175 0.015 179.141 12 23 Bubba Wallace Toyota 2 53.470 0.190 0.015 179.091 13 45 Tyler Reddick Toyota 2 53.496 0.216 0.026 179.004 14 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 2 53.497 0.217 0.001 179.001 15 2 Austin Cindric Ford 2 53.499 0.219 0.002 178.994 16 41 Ryan Preece Ford 2 53.509 0.229 0.010 178.961 17 8 Kyle Busch Chevrolet 2 53.548 0.268 0.039 178.830 18 24 William Byron Chevrolet 2 53.559 0.279 0.011 178.793 19 16 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 2 53.568 0.288 0.009 178.763 20 6 Brad Keselowski Ford 2 53.611 0.331 0.043 178.620 21 34 Michael McDowell Ford 2 53.629 0.349 0.018 178.560 22 99 
Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 2 53.651 0.371 0.022 178.487 23 1 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 2 53.671 0.391 0.020 178.420 24 43 Erik Jones Chevrolet 2 53.693 0.413 0.022 178.347 25 21 Harrison Burton Ford 2 53.695 0.415 0.002 178.341 26 31 Justin Haley Chevrolet 2 53.745 0.465 0.050 178.175 27 48 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 2 53.750 0.470 0.005 178.158 28 36 Todd Gilliland Ford 2 53.849 0.569 0.099 177.831 29 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 2 53.874 0.594 0.025 177.748 30 42 Noah Gragson Chevrolet 2 53.902 0.622 0.028 177.656 31 62 Austin Hill Chevrolet 2 53.973 0.693 0.071 177.422 32 77 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 2 54.033 0.753 0.060 177.225 33 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chevrolet 2 54.039 0.759 0.006 177.205 34 7 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 2 54.059 0.779 0.020 177.140 35 38 Zane Smith Ford 2 54.063 0.783 0.004 177.127 36 15 Riley Herbst Ford 2 54.106 0.826 0.043 176.986 37 78 B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 2 54.297 1.017 0.191 176.363 38 51 J.J. Yeley Ford 2 54.424 1.144 0.127 175.952
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